Pet Supplies Plus eyeing Jax for Expansion

[I-10east]

Pet Supplies Plus, the national pet store out of Redford, MI is planning to expand in Jax. There is currently one Pet Supplies Plus in Florida, Valrico near Tampa. There is a lot of competition in pet store retail with Petco, Pet Supermarket, and PetSmart around.

Pet Supplies Plus is looking to expand its national footprint of more than 300 locations by expanding into the Jacksonville market — filling a niche that it thinks is exactly what Northeast Florida pet owners need.

The store is starting to enter the market by franchising to Eric and Brian Rolf, opening the first store in a retail center in Atlantic Beach. But in the next five years, the company plans to have about five to seven stores opened throughout Jacksonville.

"Part of our national expansion strategy is we're getting ready to open 30 new stores this year," said David Leonardo, senior vice president of franchising for Pet Supplies Plus. "We targeted areas where pet stores had under-penetrated, combined with growth in population and household income. When we put in these metrics, Jacksonville came up on our radar."

What is more, Jacksonville — especially the Atlantic Beach location — had the demographics the company was looking for: conveniently located to customers in an area where the households are likely to have pets.
The pet supply retailer — which had sales of about $800 million last year, making it the third largest national pet store — says its position as the third largest is actually a strength.

"The pet retail industry is really dominated by Petsmart and Petco," Leonardo said. "Those are huge box retailers. We're your neighborhood pet store."

At one end of the spectrum are the large big box retailers, which can be too large, overwhelming and can force customers to have to walk through the entire store before they find what they're looking for. More and more shoppers are looking to go local, not just for themselves but for their pets as well. But the problem with the boutique or mom-and-pop shops is that they might not have the selection of products a customer is looking for. Or they may specialize in supplies for just one species, unable to service multi-pet homes.
Pet Supplies Plus, however, sit between those two extremes.

"We're uniquely positioned between 7,000 and 10,000 square feet," said Leonardo. "We have enough selection to have an array of products, but at the same time you won't be lost.... A key for us is convenience. If you want to come in and in three minutes be out, you can do that."

Another factor that separates the retailer from the rest is the quality of products and services it provides, he said. Just as retail trends are showing that people are looking to feed themselves with natural, healthy food, they're looking to feed their pets with the same quality ingredients.

Leonardo said the retailer is the largest carrier of natural dog food — one of its most popular items is an organic, natural, refrigerated dog food that costs about $90 — as the store capitalizes on "the humanization of pets." Many Pet Supplies Plus stores also feature grooming and dog washes, including the Atlantic Beach store.

All that adds up to be an opportunity that Eric and Brian Rolf wanted to get in on.
Brian Rolf said he was looking for a place to relocate from San Diego after he retired from the Marine Corps in 2014.

After deciding to move to Jacksonville, he and his father — who are 50/50 partners — looked into several franchise concepts, and as pet lovers had their interest piqued with the Pet Supplies Plus concept. What is more, because Eric Rolf had years of experience working in the grocery business, a model that Pet Supplies is based off of.

"The corporate support structure has been great," said Brian Rolf, who is planning to open the area's first store in April or May. "The stores are small enough to maintain a customer service focus but large enough to enjoy a well-developed supply chain and economy of scale so you can pass on the savings to the customer."

Rolf said he and his father have plans to open multiple stores in Jacksonville (David Leonardo said the company prefers it when franchisees open multiple locations.) The Rolfs plan to finalize the lease next week, and will have an entire build out for the 11,000 square foot space.
And of course, it doesn't hurt that his three children are excited their dad is opening up a pet store.

"We have a chocolate lab and a hamster," said Rolf. "Both those animals get more attention than their mother and I. The kids plan to come to the store as much as possible."

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2016/01/07/why-this-national-pet-store-is-planning-to-open.html

[CCMjax]

Wow, we may have a real game changer here boys and girls!  I hear all the key players involved in the Trio, The District, The Shipyards, the Landing and Jacksonville's core redevelopment in general are all closely following the development of this story, eagerly waiting and sitting on the edge of their seats to find out if the one, the only . . . . Pet Supplies Plus is coming to town!

[coredumped]

Wow, we may have a real game changer here boys and girls!  I hear all the key players involved in the Trio, The District, The Shipyards, the Landing and Jacksonville's core redevelopment in general are all closely following the development of this story, eagerly waiting and sitting on the edge of their seats to find out if the one, the only . . . . Pet Supplies Plus is coming to town!

I get that this isn't a Macy's or an IKEA, but this is still good news for Jax. It's nice that when companies are considering an expansion in Florida that JAX is one of the first cities on their mind (ahead of Orlando and Miami in this case).

Plus, jobs. There's really not much to complain about here. Welcome Pet Supplies Plus!

[CCMjax]

Wow, we may have a real game changer here boys and girls!  I hear all the key players involved in the Trio, The District, The Shipyards, the Landing and Jacksonville's core redevelopment in general are all closely following the development of this story, eagerly waiting and sitting on the edge of their seats to find out if the one, the only . . . . Pet Supplies Plus is coming to town!

I get that this isn't a Macy's or an IKEA, but this is still good news for Jax. It's nice that when companies are considering an expansion in Florida that JAX is one of the first cities on their mind (ahead of Orlando and Miami in this case).

Plus, jobs. There's really not much to complain about here. Welcome Pet Supplies Plus!

I wasn't complaining CD . . . . have a sense of humor.  I just thought it was funny, post after post about large project concepts that may help change the perception of Jax . . . and then Pet Supplies Plus comes out of left field 

Not sure PSP is going to have any measurable economic impact on a city of this size or change any perception of this city, so I don't think it's anything to leap out of one's seat and rejoice about if it happens, but you are right, if a company is showing interest in Jax it is usually a good thing.